Hard decisions for Predators

Coach Barry Trotz said he expected forwards Marcel Goc and Marek Svatos to be in the lineup tonight for the Predators. Goc missed the Monday win over Colorado with an upper body strain. Svatos has been out since Jan. 15 with a knee issue.

This poses an interesting “problem” for Trotz. Normally, when a player has returned from injury, the choice has been easy — scratch Wade Belak and send Matt Halischuk or Chris Mueller back to Milwaukee. But with the acquisition of Mike Fisher, the Predators have forward depth for the first time, maybe since the first game of the season.

Trotz didn’t say which regular he would scratch, but offered some clues during the morning skate: “It’s the first time in a long time we’ve needed to make some decisions. You have some people who are getting close to coming back, there’s some tough decisions. For example, San Jose has a real good power play, so you’re probably going to keep most of your penalty killers in there. It’s going to be decisions based on opponent play and all those different factors.”

Based on that statement, my guess would be a more offensive player. The last three players off the ice during the morning skate were Sergei Kostitsyn, followed by Belak and J.P. Dumont.

In terms of what Trotz would divulge, Pekka Rinne will start in goal tonight.